The First Wimbledon Championship: Spencer Gore and the Birth of Tennis, 1877
The First Wimbledon Championship: Spencer Gore and the Birth of Tennis, 1877
TENNIS | History
SOURCE: Wimbledon.com; Wikipedia; Tennis Archives
LAST UPDATED: 2026-09-21
READ TIME: 6 min read
DIRECT ANSWER
The first Wimbledon Championship was held at the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, starting on 9 July 1877. Spencer Gore, a 27-year-old rackets player, won the inaugural title by beating William Marshall in the final, 6–1, 6–2, 6–4, on 19 July 1877 — a match delayed four days by rain.
Just 22 men entered, and the whole event ran on a single set of rules written for the occasion, several of which were changed the very next year.
1. Why the Tournament Existed
What it was: The All England Club had originally been founded in 1868 purely for croquet. Lawn tennis — a new game formalised a few years earlier by Major Walter Clopton Wingfield — was added to the club only in 1875.
Two years later, the club organised a championship specifically to standardise the sport's still-inconsistent rules, offering a silver challenge cup donated by the sports magazine The Field as the prize.
Why it matters: This wasn't staged as a spectacle — it was closer to a rules-testing exercise. The tournament's own post-event review led directly to changes in the court dimensions used the following year.
2. The Draw: 22 Men, One Shilling a Head
What happened: Twenty-two men entered, each paying a one-guinea entry fee. Matches were spread across five days, but play was deliberately suspended over the weekend so it wouldn't clash with the annual Eton vs Harrow cricket match at Lord's — a sign of how small and socially interconnected the sporting world still was at the time.
Attendance: Around 200 spectators, each paying a one-shilling entry fee, watched the final.
Notable moment: Julian Marshall became the first player in the tournament to win a five-set match, coming back from two sets down in an early round.
3. The Rain-Delayed Final
What happened: The final was originally scheduled earlier in the week but was postponed four days by rain, eventually being played on 19 July 1877.
The match: Spencer Gore, who had dropped only two sets across his first four rounds, beat William Marshall — a real tennis player rather than a lawn tennis specialist — in straight sets, 6–1, 6–2, 6–4, in just 48 minutes.
4. Spencer Gore: The First Champion
Who he was: A 27-year-old rackets player from Wandsworth, working at the time as a land agent and surveyor. He was also a first-class cricketer, having played for Surrey County Cricket Club.
His prize: 12 guineas in prize money and the silver challenge cup, valued at 25 guineas.
His technique: Gore is credited as the first player to use the volley — striking the ball before it bounced, sometimes before it even crossed the net — a style his opponents in 1877 hadn't seen before.
A twist worth knowing: Despite winning the first title, Gore reportedly wasn't convinced lawn tennis had much of a future as a serious sport. He never won the Championship again — as reigning champion, he was exempt from playing through the following year's draw and went straight to the challenge round, where he lost to Frank Hadow and never competed at Wimbledon again.
5. What Changed After This Tournament
What happened: The tournament ended with a modest £10 profit for the club. But the bigger impact was on the rules themselves — a post-tournament analysis led the All England Club to revise the court dimensions used for the following year's Championship.
Why it matters: The version of tennis played in 1877 wasn't quite the version played today — this first event effectively doubled as a live rules trial, and Wimbledon's organisers used what they learned to refine the sport almost immediately.
6. Related Reading
- Tennis Scoring Explained
- The First Test Match in Cricket History: Australia vs England, 1877
- The First Football Match in History: Barnes vs Richmond, 1863
- The First Basketball Game Ever Played: Naismith's 1891 Match and Full Roster
FAQs
Who won the first Wimbledon Championship?
Spencer Gore won the first Wimbledon Championship in 1877, defeating William Marshall in the final, 6–1, 6–2, 6–4.
When was the first Wimbledon Championship held?
The tournament began on 9 July 1877, with the final played on 19 July 1877 after a four-day rain delay.
How many players competed in the first Wimbledon Championship?
22 men entered the inaugural tournament, each paying a one-guinea entry fee.
What did the winner of the first Wimbledon Championship receive?
Spencer Gore received 12 guineas in prize money and a silver challenge cup donated by the sports magazine The Field.
Did Spencer Gore win Wimbledon again?
No. As reigning champion, he went straight to the following year's challenge round under the rules of the time, lost to Frank Hadow, and never competed at Wimbledon again.
Was tennis scoring the same in 1877 as it is today?
The match format, including best-of-three sets with games and sets, was already in place, but the tournament's rules — including court dimensions — were reviewed and revised the following year based on lessons from this first event.
Sources & Verification
Verified against Wimbledon.com's official history archive, Wikipedia's 1877 Wimbledon Championship records, and Tennis Archives' detailed account of the tournament.
Last reviewed: 2026-09-21 by the Laws of Sport Editorial Team.